"Steve is the prototypical cool American male. Y'know, I'm talking about Steve McGarrett, alright? Steve Austin, Steve McQueen. Y'know, he's the guy on his horse, the guy alone. He has his own code of honor, his own code of ethics, his own rules of living, man. He never, ever tries to impress the women but he always gets the girl."

Well in VA and WV there's the Appalachians. Lots of trails, campsites, caves and the like. Your local library probably has tons of books on trails in the area.

As Joker mentioned the bay is good for some fun when it gets a tad warmer. Try kayaking. I know the eastern shore has a lot of little marshes and streams you can explore on kayak. Not sure about the western but I'm guessing it does.

That's all I can think off.

__________________

Amber

"If I had a kid I'd f**k it. Then kill it. Then f**k it again." Seattle 2006

The year we lived in the DC area (Arlington), we spent a solid amount of time at the various Smithsonian museums, cause they're amazing and free, and also, be sure to go to the free shows at 6 nightly at the Millenium Stage at the Kennedy Centre. You can see what's playing online, before you go, or you can just wing it and show up and see what's on. We loved that, and went anytime we were downtown in the late afternoon.

Mount Vernon is very close to DC, you can do that easily. We thoroughly enjoyed a week's vacation visiting Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown, which is a great intro to US history for those non-Americans amongst us. Baltimore has an amazing Aquarium, and we also took a long weekend trip to NYC, which was great except for the blizzard.

I'm looking at the table of contents of the book "Quick Escapes from Washington D.C." (Fitzpatrick & Burkhalter), which describes "25 Weekend Trips from the Nation's Capital". They list trips by state, Virginia, Maryland, W. VA, Pennsylvania, Delaware & "beyond", I'm not going to list them all, but the book is quite comprehensive and gives suggested itineraries, places to stay, eat and see. It does look like it's geared to a higher budget, but it can still give you plenty of ideas of things that might interest you. There's everything from historical tours to hiking trails to arts and crafts destinations, so probably there are a couple of things in there for anyone's interest. We never got to Philadelphia, but that's supposed to be great. I'd definitely borrow the book from the library and see if anything appeals to you.

Not sure if you're still in DC, because a previous post of yours mentioned leaving the area at the beginning of April.

Virginia - Virginia is pretty boring, unless you're into the outdoors. The C&O Canal is a great flat-ground hiking/camping spot to check out. Something like 200 miles long? The Blue Ridge mountains are also another great hiking source - I recommend the Bear Claw trail, because a lot of the sleep spots are covered, and you can opt to either pitch camp outside of them, or mingle with the other hikers who might happen to pass by. I've slept in the large camp-in structures before, and met some, well, peculiar people before, and got a lot of laughs out of the stay. If you're into Urban Decay, a trip to Richmond would be worth your time. There's a lot of neat stuff in Richmond, including a VERY impressive art museum - http://www.vmfa.state.va.us/ Any day of the week in Richmond you can find a decent show to check out (alleykatzrva.com -- I designed their site *cough*, thenanciraygun.com, styleweekly.com) or some random art gallery showing. If you make it to Richmond on the First Friday of any month, you can check out the monthly artwalk, which is pretty sweet. You can meet some very cool people in Richmond, but most of what you'll find there are college-aged transients, and the colorful locals. Heading north and westerly from Richmond, you can check out some sweet backtrail hiking in Blacksburg, or drop in Charlottesville for a brew and a show at any one of the numerous clubs and bars there. East of Richmond you've got Norfolk/Virginia Beach/Chesapeake. Mainly naval stuff in that area, but a decent mall, lots of really good places to eat and sightsee, and you can't beat the drive across the Downtown bridge at night with the window or the top down. More northerly, you've got Alexandria and Reston really. The only places in NoVA that I frequent very often. Mostly just shopping, bags and small clubs here though. Eh, maybe Virginia isn't so boring, but it's still not the place for me

Maryland/DC - Georgetown is a must. Some people might feel otherwise if they're local to the area there, but I think Georgetown is just one of those places that will always ring a bell for me. I love the quaint city scenery there, the layout, but the people could use a smack in the face. There's a lot of good places to shop and check out in the Georgetown area. Lots of good eating, and bars too. Adam's Morgan is great for nightlife. It can be a little pricey, but if all you're looking for is something to break the monotony, grab a friend and hit the bars for the weekend. Never know who you'll run into. DC is about my least favorite place. I'm not partial to the layout or the places to go. A lot of people complain about the driving in the city, but it's really not so bad once you figure it out. You can get away with a lot of driving manuevers in DC that would easily get you a ticket elsewhere (I've seen people pull a U-turn in the middle of busy traffic as if it were no big deal). You can get anywhere in the city by Metro, or a quick car ride. I'm really not an expert on DC, as I avoid it at all costs. The cops, if and should you encounter them, are fairly corrupt in my personal opinion. If you've got money to spend, the Washington Wizards (basketball), the Nationals (baseball), the Capitals (hockey ftw!) and the Redskins (not really the season for football right now) are always playing. And of course there's oodles and oodles of museums and galleries showing something. There's a Joan Miro and Rodchenko show right now. Coming this summer at the Smithsonian is a year-long exhibit on the history of Hip-Hop. Get into that!

North Carolina - I know very little about the area, except that there's a decent club called Cat's Cradle there where you can catch some pretty spectacular shows for an average ticket price. It's also the medical research hot-spot right now, and if you're not living in DC, New York or Atlanta right now and technology is your thing, I suggest checking it out. Lots of money and opportunity is pouring into North Carolina right now.

South Carolina - Meh. Fireworks is all I can say. Everytime I pass through Tennessee or South Carolina, I always stock up on at least $100 worth of fireworks. Fun stuff, and legal to buy.

Hope that helps. If you have any more questions, I'll try to help, but NoVA and Richmond, VA are really the two places I know best.